Deepika’s Story

Deepika is 13 years old. She dreams of becoming a beautician one day. Coming from a very poor family in India, she is brave to dream of having such a career.

Before we met Deepika,she had dropped out of 6th grade. Her parents were planning to get her engaged to a decent man from their village in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India. And planned to get her married to him a few years after that. This is very common for poor families in India, for their children to get engaged at a young age. It ensures that their daughters will be taken care of, and gives peace of mind to poor parents who can barely make ends meet.

One Life to Love’s education program gave Deepika’s parents the option to send their daughter to school, cost-free, an option they did’nt have before; an option most poor parents still do not have. Deepika is beyond excited to be studying. The aspiring beautician spends her lunch hour braiding the other girls’ hair.